College Sports Blog

Five observations after Texas pulls of 31-22 upset over Texas Tech

Yes, an upset. The Red Raiders were favored by seven over the Longhorns, who could barely beat Kansas last weekend. Here are five quick thoughts.

1. The defense bended but did not break. The Red Raiders only scored two touchdowns — another was called back from holding and a missed field goal attempt would follow — and were held to three field goals. Junior cornerback Carrington Byndom broke up several passing attempts, including a two-point conversion attempt.

2. Byndom also blocked a field goal that would have put Texas Tech down by six with over five minutes to play. It sealed the win for the Longhorns.

3. UT quarterback David Ash suffered through a bad third quarter, at one point completing just one of his previous seven passes, but was mostly good. Ash didn’t turn the ball over or make any mistakes to give Texas Tech a short field. He came out firing, with two touchdown passes in the first half. Ash finished with 264 yards and three touchdowns on 11 of 19 passing.

4. Ash’s favorite target was Mike Davis, who came up huge. Davis caught two touchdowns, including a 25-yarder to put Texas up by nine in the fourth quarter. He was two yards away from a third touchdown in the first quarter. Davis caught four balls for 165 yards, with an average of 41.5 yards a catch.

5. Johnathan Gray, making his first career start, topped the 100-yard mark for the second week in a row. The freshman sliced up the Red Raiders’ defense for 106 yards on 12 carries. Gray stared out the year looking up at several other backs on the depth chart. Now he’s the main man.